Why I Do Not Support The Troopsby Lucinda
Marshall
www.dissidentvoice.org
September 1, 2005

F

or the last four
years, the anti-war movement has been seriously handicapping itself with
its "We support the troops but we're against war" mantra of qualified
dissent. Initially, the phrasing of this message was a reflexive attempt
to fit into the context of pro-militarism created by the Neocon
spinmeisters who quickly established a flag-waving, "Support our troops"
litmus test in the aftermath of the tragedies of September 11th.

Wanting to avoid being
branded as un-American traitors from the get-go, the left promptly started
couching their verbiage in the newly minted criteria for patriotism.
Unfortunately, that line of thinking is still alive and well today and has
become a serious detriment to bringing an end to the agenda of empire.

One of the guilt factors that
continues to keep the mostly white and privileged anti-war movement
supporting the troops is the argument that many soldiers come from
impoverished circumstances and are motivated to join the military because
of the education and job benefits that are marketed by recruiters and
glossy advertisements. Implicit in this angst is the assumption that it is
racist and classist to deny the "benefits" of military service to those
who choose to enlist just because of our own ideological objections to the
military industrial complex.

There are several major
problems with this line of reasoning. First, the benefits aren't all they
are cracked up to be. For some, military service has been a positive
experience on a personal level, but for too many others, it has not. Many
military personnel receive no educational benefits at all and only a few
receive full benefits.

In addition, while the
military boasts about job benefits, the reality is that, according to the
Veteran's Administration, veterans actually make less money in civilian
life than those without military experience. They also make up 1/3 of
homeless men and 20% of the nation's prison population.

How then can it be
appropriate to support recruits who sign up for benefits that are
overstated if not totally illusory? By saying that we understand that they
signed up because of the benefits, we are buying into the myth of the
military as a tool for social betterment. In essence, we are excusing them
(and ourselves) from questioning the morality of their participation in a
system that was designed to wage war.

Getting bogged down in this
line of reasoning also keeps us from examining how increased military
spending, as well as trade agreements like CAFTA, destroy our economy.
Would we not better support those who join the military for the job
benefits if we insisted that our spending priorities emphasize education
and job training, rather than cutting those funds so that the only option
left is the military?

By supporting those who sign
up for the benefits, we are saying that we think they are so low on the
totem poll that the only way we are going to give them a chance to better
themselves and lead a productive life is if they first risk their lives
for something that we don't actually even believe in. And then maybe,
possibly, depending on the small print at the bottom of their contracts,
they might get the benefits.

Most importantly, supporting
those who sign up to serve their country totally excuses the immorality of
justifying the unjust as patriotism. There can be no excuse for enriching
the coffers of the likes of Halliburton while bleeding dry our human
capital and the resources of this planet.

It is not now nor has it ever
been in the best interests of our country, any other country, or indeed
the planet to kill innocent people, to poison the environment with nuclear
weaponry, to destroy cities and deprive people of their health or the
basic necessities of life for any reason. It does not matter what their
religion or skin color is or what language they speak or how much oil is
under their sand.

As Cindy Sheehan has so
eloquently pointed out, using our children as "human cluster-bombs" to
kill other children in never-ending wars is not a family value, it is the
callous betrayal of our youth and the wanton destruction of our future.

It is for these reasons that
I will not say that I support our troops.

Lucinda Marshall is a feminist artist, writer and activist. She
is the Founder of the Feminist Peace Network,
www.feministpeacenetwork.org.
Her work has been published in numerous publications in the U.S. and
abroad including Awakened Woman, Alternet, Dissident
Voice, Off Our Backs, The Progressive, Rain and
Thunder, Z Magazine, Common Dreams and Information
Clearinghouse.